Final Fantasy VII: Disordered Illusion
by Surrect Tiger
Summary: As Cloud discovers things that cannot be possible, he is lead forward by something he cannot see, hear, or imagine. Only something he can feel. Please R+R!
1. Final Fantasy VII: Disordered Illusion C...

****

FINAL FANTASY VII: DISORDERED ILLUSION

Written by Surrect Tiger

PROLOGUE

Cloud pulled away from Aeris's gravestone as it began to rain. He read, one last time, the words that had been carved into it.

__

Here lies Aeris Gainsborough

__

What has been, and will be

A life that remains free

And has, and is, and always defends

From all beginnings to all ends.

__

Until that life returns...

He got onto the Chocobo he had brought there, and rode towards Midgar, thinking to himself how much he had missed her. Almost a month after Meteor had struck, and he had thought of nothing but a way to get her back.

Cloud rode out of the forest, where her stone had been lain. He guided the chocobo up a small path for several hundred feet, then came out into another wooded area. A mile through a series of different types of trees, and across a stream, was the path to the massive city. He looked out over the cliff.

There would be days ahead of him before he reached his destination.

****

CHAPTER I

A car arrived at the steps of the Shinra Tower in Midgar. A new one had been built, for the blueprints of the former had been salvaged after Meteor had struck. The Tower had been almost perfectly rebuilt, but Shinra had added floors, the total addition coming to one hundred thirty-seven. The door on the long, black limousine opened, and out stepped Tso, Rufus's younger twin brother. He had become President after Midgar had been restored (thanks to all the towns and cities of the Planet, this was possible within a month). He walked up the stairs to be greeted by a bald man with a goatee and a very, very deep voice.

"Hello, President Tso."

"Rude. They let you back on the Force?"

"I never left it," announced Rude.

"Really? So you're still the leader?"

"Correct, sir," answered the black man. "What is that?"

"A camera," answered Tso, pulling out a pen-shaped camera. It was almost exactly like one, save for a small button on the side.

"Interesting. This way." 

Rude guided Tso into the Tower. As they were walking, Tso bumped into a girl just under his height. "Sorry," he said. They went up to the top floor, Tso's office. After exiting the elevator, Rude walked in front of Tso, and led him to a beautiful woman in a blue police force suit.

"Elena. I've heard things about you," said Tso.

"Things?" she softly said. "What kind of..._things_?"

"Just...things from Rufus he always talked about how...Turkish...you were." He backed away from her. She was attractive, but muscular, nonetheless. Tso was embarrassed at his remarks, and looked at his feet. Just then Elena said something, but his camera pen caught his attention. It had recently taken a picture. _Hmm...maybe when I bumped that girl downstairs_, he thought to himself.

He walked past several littered office tables and people, and made his way to his desk, facing outward towards Midgar, and the rest of the world. It was an astonishing sight to see. He sat down, and began to write on papers in a folder.

_Logs_, he thought. He hated logs...but he had to read them every day. _Especially the computer logs_. The computer logs showed a description of every conversation taken in the Tower between two or more people, similar to a chat. It was-

_Wait a minute_, he thought, reading across an odd one. "Rude, come here." The black, tall man was by him at once. "What is this?" He pointed to log #23536A2f. He read it aloud. "Log #23536A2f, Wednesday, 7:08:12 PM. Between conversationalists Lion866 and Lioness 865."

"Yeah?" asked Rude. "What's so odd about that?"

"In all my time of checking logs here, I don't remember ever hearing of those two."  
"Maybe they're new."

"I don't think so," said Tso. He knew that everyone that used the communications systems in the tower had to register with complete verifications of where they lived, their gender, age, height, weight, etc. "Bring me a copy of both of these people's registration right away," said Tso.

Just as Rude walked away, towards the elevator, Tso say a small figure outside of Midgar moving in. A small yellow dot. He went to the window, and looked through a small scope at the center of it.

Cloud Strife.

He had been gone for several days. _It'll be good to have someone to talk to_, he thought.

Cloud and his chocobo arrived at the Shinra stable outside of the Tower, and he walked inside. He went to the elevator, rode to the top, and was greeted by Tso. "Welcome!" he said happily to Cloud. "Sit down, sit down!" He motioned for him to sit beside him on a chair, so that they could face each other. "How are you doing, Cloud?" He snapped his finger, and a waitress walked to them both.

"Just fine."

"Sero, on the rocks," Tso told the waitress. "Anything, Cloud?"

"No thanks." The waitress left immediately with Tso's order.

"So, where've you been the past few days?"

"Terra's Forest," said Cloud.

"There again?" asked Tso. "Something special must be down there. You go often."

"So I do." Rufus found them both, and sat down on a chair close to theirs.

"I found the file, sir," said Rufus.

"Just wait a second, Rufus."

"Rufus?" asked Cloud.

"Yeah? Who're you?" asked Rufus. Then his jaw dropped. "H-hey, man, I know you! The spike-headed punk!" He stood immediately.

"Been a long time, Rufus." The black man staggered backwards, and shut himself in an office.

"Hmm...You know him?" asked Tso, picking up the folder Rufus had brought from the floor.

"Yeah. While back, though. What's that?"

"Nothing. Just a chat log file I asked for."

"What for?"

"I'm thinking unauthorized people have br-" He was interrupted by a woman that ran to him.

"Sir!"

"What!?"

"Someone on the computer is wanting to talk to you!"

Tso cursed. "I think we're using that program too much. Who on earth is it!?"

"Some person named Lion 666 or something."

"That's him!" Tso jumped from his seat, and ran to her computer. Cloud walked normally, unalarmed, to him. The woman stood by Tso's side. Cloud read the computer screen as Tso talked with the person.

__

Myra_182: Hello?

Apparently Myra was the girl's name.

__

Lion866: Is this Tso?

Myra_182: Yes.

Myra_182: Who are you?

Lion866: Never mind who I am.

Lion866: I've done some research on Shinra.

Lion866: As I remember, they were partially responsible for the Meteor incident.

Myra_182: That was the past.

Myra_182: We have no intention of returning to the way we were.

Lion866: Really? Is Hojo there?

Something inside Cloud told him this person was up to no good. If they were asking for Hojo, they were asking for trouble.

__

Myra_182: Hojo died a little over a month ago.

Lion866: I'm too late.

Lion866: I want records from you.

Myra_182: What records?

Lion866: On Hojo's operations.

Lion866: He has something I'm looking for.

Myra_182: I want to know who you are, first.

Lion866: You'll find out soon enough.

Lion866: First, I want the files on all his operations.

_________________________

Lioness865 has joined the chat

Lioness865: Hi there, Lion.

Lion866: Hey Lioness.

Myra_182: Are either of you in the building?

Lioness865: I don't think that matters any way.

Lion866: Are we going to have the files, or not?

Myra_182: I want to know who you both are, and what you want with those certain files.

Lion866: That's not any of your business. Just ours.

Lioness865: Just ours.

Now Cloud _knew_ something was definently wrong. They wanted Hojo's operational files, and that was serious business.

__

Myra_182: Tell us who you are!

Lioness865: Give us the files!

"...What should we do?" asked Tso. "I'm half thinking of giving them the files."

"Is that sensible?" asked Cloud. "I mean, Hojo's files...you know what he did to me and Zack...."

"That man was absolutely sick."

__

Lion866: Well?

Myra_182: Just one minute.

"...I...don't know what to do. What would they use them for?" asked Tso.

"...Could they be thinking of...completing things he began?" suggested Cloud.

"Leave us alone," said Tso to the woman. The hastily ran out the door, and shut it.

__

Myra_182: Just tell us what you're using it for.

Lion866: Lioness?

Lioness865: I don't know.

A moment passed before she answered again.

__

Lioness865: We're just looking up files.

Myra_!82: Hold on.

"I have an idea," said Tso. "Suppose we were to give them the file information online..."

"And catch their drift?"

"Exactly."

__

Myra_182: How important is this info to you?

Lioness865: More important that you'll ever need to know.

Lion866: Will you give it to us?

Myra_182: Well, if it's so important to you, you wouldn't mind letting us give you the info right here and now, would you?

There was a long, dramatic pause.

__

Lion866: Alright. Do you have the files on hand?

Myra_182: Let me get them. Which ones?

Lion866: File #155j.

Tso opened the door, and talked to the girl. "Go get File #155j from Hojo's file cabinet. Should be in Cabinet twelve."

"Yessir!" She ran to the elevator.

Just a minute later she returned with a red folder that was seven inches thick, and weighed four pounds. Tso opened it, and found several notebook sheets that had been hand written, with blood-stained fingerprints on almost every page.

__

Myra_182: Ok. What page?

Lion866: Page 190.

"I wonder how they know this stuff," said Cloud. "It seems like they've done a lot of research on it."

"Yeah, and if they're _in_ the building, I wonder why they didn't find the file themselves." Tso found page 190. "...Oh...my..." He couldn't finish his sentence as he pulled the page from the notebook.

"What?"

"_This is your operation_." Cloud grabbed the sheet from Tso, and scanned it. His heart felt like it was going to stop. _What did a person want with his and Zack's operation!?_

"...Give it to them."

__

Myra_182: I have it.

Lioness865: Good.

Lion866: Ok. Read everything on that page to me.

Myra_182: Operation #018974523. Subject: Cloud and Zack (Last names withheld due to personal profile defense agency).

October 19 - All important skeletal parts found. Distinguishable: Cloud: Lower left brain, brain stem, left eye, left arm, no elbow or wrist found, left calf, 3 left ribs, half of left collarbone, five upper left teeth, two lower left, lower nose cartilage. Zack: Full right arm, right leg, left knee, left elbow and wrist, three left and six right ribs, one upper left and five lower right teeth, spine minus two discs, and jaw.

October 27 - All important organs and systems found. Distinguishable: Cloud: 45/47 of Nervous System. Full Reproductive System. Full Cardiovascular System. Zack: Full Respiratory System. 2/9 of Nervous System found, will fill in unfinished of Cloud's. Indistinguishable: Full muscular system, mixed of Cloud's and Zack's (Zack's were stronger). Rest of systems can be obtained by morgue.

October 29 - Body repair begun. Assembled head, synthetically added pulmonary muscle. Found only one eye, added one from morgue.

November 5 - Head finished. Found a better eye from the morgue, a blue one. Accelerated hair, saliva, and other growth. Apparently it will be considered Cloud (hair is yellow).

This stung Cloud. He didn't even know if he was himself or Zack. Just because he had yellow hair, everyone assumed this body was Cloud. _Am I Cloud or Zack?_ he wondered to himself.

__

September 9 - Body completion begun. Logs discontinued until body completed.

July 7 - Body completed. A revival session in the hospitalization sector commencing. Will begin in one week.

July 14 - Success. Body fully operational. Unconscious for lack of memory; will synthetically add later.

Lion866: And that's it?

Myra_182: Yeah. Now, who are you?

Lioness865: Tell us, is Cloud still around?

Myra_182: He's right here.

Myra_182: Why?

Then, as soon as his name was mentioned, Cloud's stomach turned. _Who are they!?_ This was like a fly buzzing around his head. "...The folder!" said Cloud loudly. "Look in the folder!"

Tso had completely forgotten about it. "That's right!" He opened the folder, and scanned through it. "...I don't know this person. Does it sound familiar?" He handed Cloud the page.

Computer Information Center

April 9

Information : Lion866

Illegal Operation

[code: 80295 09285 02456 92746 01783]

[code: 82548 87253 08945 18462 03857]

(Lion866 does not exist in computer file system memory)

Information : Lioness865

Registration Code : 8815634678

Password : Mt. Nibel

Current City : Costa del Sol

Sex : Female

Age : 21

Weight: 110

Nickname : Lioness865

Name : Gainsborough, Aeris

"_Aeris Gainsborough!_" shouted Cloud as he read down the paper. He shoved Tso aside, and quickly typed.

__

Myra_182: Aeris!

Lioness865: Cloud?

Lion866: Cloud...

Lion866: ...It's been a long time.

____________________

Lion866 has left the chat

______________________

Lioness865 has left the chat

****

CONTINUED IN CHAPTER II


	2. Final Fantasy VII: Disordered Illusion C...

****

FINAL FANTASY VII: DISORDERED ILLUSION

Written by Surrect Tiger

CHAPTER II

_Aeris was alive._ Cloud's heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest. _She was alive!_ He turned to Tso. "...She's alive...." He couldn't find any words that could fit his feelings.

"Yeah. Listen, who is she anyway?"

"Aeris Gainsborough...just a good friend...." Cloud found himself stumbling over himself for the right words.

"Yeah...and does that explain why you said 'she's alive'?"

"...She died about a month and a half ago. I can't explain...but...."

"What does she look like?" asked Tso.

"Brown hair, green eyes, wears a pink dress with a red vest. Just about your height."

It suddenly struck Tso. He pulled out his pen camera, and hit a button on it. After a little whir, a picture came out, fully developed. "Is this her?" She was the girl he had bumped into downstairs.

"Yeah! Where is she!?" 

"She's in the building!"

"Where!?"

"Down on the bottom floor!" They both about killed each other getting out of the room. Cloud was leading Tso, reaching the elevator first, not waiting for the other, and pressing the buttons. Tso made it through the doors just before they closed.

The door seemed to open too slow for Cloud's liking. His heart raced as he dove out, searching through a crowd. Looking at everyone would be impossible; every person he turned to seemed to have brown hair and green eyes. Somewhere in the ocean of heads, Cloud and Tso became separated, but Cloud saw this as an advantage. "Do you see her!" shouted Cloud, waving his hand over the heads to catch Tso's attention.

After just about thirty seconds, Tso jumped in the air, Cloud looking immediately in his direction. "There!" shouted Tso, pointing towards the door. Cloud turned, and spotted a girl with brown hair and a pink bow.

_A pink bow._ He had completely forgotten about that.... He was almost in a trance, looking at her once again. She turned back one last time, and he saw her full, beautiful face once again. It seemed to completely absorb every thought of his brain while looking at her.

"What are you waiting for!?" shouted Tso. "Get her!" He had forgotten that they were trying to reach her. She turned, and seemed to be running from them.... Cloud began to shove his way through the wave of heads that seemed to stretch to the horizon.

Finally, he reached the doors, and she was gone. Tso came up right behind him. "There!" said Cloud, pointing down the street. She was riding away on a black chocobo. "Give me your phone!" Tso reached into a pocket, and pulled out a small cell phone. Cloud quickly dialed a number. After a few rings, a voice answered. He didn't wait. "For a thousand Gil, have Chocobo five running east in five minutes." He turned to Tso, who was nowhere to be seen.

Then the President pulled up beside him on a chocobo of his own. "Get on!" he ordered.

"Better make that two minutes," said Cloud into the phone before dropping it. He climbed up behind Tso, and they raced down the street.

Within a minute they were on the outskirts of Midgar. Cloud could see the stables out ahead of them, and a black chocobo twice as far ahead. "You sure about this!?" shouted Tso over the winds racing by their heads.

"We don't have any other choice!" answered Cloud. They saw a tall, slender yellow chocobo being herded at a fast running speed. "Towards the black one!" shouted Cloud to the herder, who was going the wrong way. Soon both chocobos were almost side by side.

Tso saw a large crevice in the ground that spanned down hundreds of feet into rocky waters just a thousand feet away from them. The black chocobo and its rider were just beginning to cross a long fallen tree that crossed the opening. "We don't have time for you to stop!" shouted Tso. "You'll just have to stay with me!"

"No!" shouted Cloud. He put a hand on Tso's shoulder, and leaped.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion as Cloud leaped from Tso's chocobo to his own.

It was a good thing chocobos have strong backs, or else Cloud's would have been flattened then and there. At any rate, he raced ahead of Tso at an amazing speed, and reached the crevice in the ground just under a minute later. By then the rider on the black bird were just at the end of the tree, hopping off to safety. The tree crunched as a crack grew on the opposite end. "For your own good," said Cloud, ripping a piece of cloth off of a pack on his bird, and tying it around its eyes. He strongly regretted what he was about to do.

He pointed his bird in the right direction, facing the log. Sweat fell from his forehead as he wondered..._Is it worth it?_ Then he decided. _I might never see her again...._

He kicked the bird in the side, and it squawked. It immediately ran across the log. Cloud almost injured his arms keeping the bird pointed in the right direction. It was halfway across that he looked down. He saw, hundreds of feet below, rocks jutting out of raging rapids that meant certain death if his bird took one wrong step.

Then the cracking began. Every step his chocobo took from then on made a loud crack or crunch in the log. _I'm not going to make it_, he thought. Just as his muscles tensed to halt his bird, he saw Aeris, on her black chocobo, stopped. _She had stopped? When? Had she even continued?_ But she sat there watching every move he made.

He continued barreling forward. Just a few dozen more feet! _Crack! Crunch! Crack! Crunch!_ The weight of he and his bird was almost too much. The tree began to wobble with every step.

_Thirty feet!_

His bird missed a step, and almost threw him off the saddle. He quickly regained posture.

_Twenty feet!_

The tree wouldn't probably last another single second. It gave a loud groan as the wood splintered and popped in the air around him. It snapped at every step his bird took.

_Fifteen feet!_

The tree gave way. The long part of the body behind him groaned and screeched against both rock and dirt as it fell downwards.

_Ten feet!_

His chocobo was running uphill now on the remainder of the tree. Virtually nothing! _I'm not going to make it!_

Eight feet!

His bird's talons gripped the end of the stump, the other leg poised to take the last fatal step. The poor bird would die either way.

_Five feet!_

Then he looked, as if he knew this was the end, at Aeris, the beautiful green eyes seeming to give him power.

The chocobo went downwards very slowly, everything suddenly seeming to have no sound at all. As he fell from the saddle, he felt all emotions in the world one could think at once. _I'm sorry, Aeris._

Then she whispered his name. Everything was going very slowly. Cloud couldn't hear anything else except his name.

He positioned his foot on the chocobo's back, and leapt.

He outstretched his hands, fingers open to the edge of the cliff.

He was going upwards, reaching a foot.

Then he began to descend.

_Closer..._

Closer...

Four fingers grasped the edge of the crevice. He was overcome with joy, then sudden fear and pain. His fingers felt like they were going to pop right out of their knuckles! He grabbed with the other hand, and pulled himself to safety.

By the time he was on top of the other side, she was already riding away on her black bird. "_Aeris!!!_" he shouted, his voice so loud it scratched his throat. She went on as if she never even heard him. Then he thought, _Where is she going?_

"Cloud!" shouted a voice behind him, trying to carry over the sound of the rushing waters below. He turned to Tso, who was with four other men on the other side of the drop. "You alright?"

"Fine!" shouted Cloud.

"Your bird ain't!" Tso pointed downwards. Cloud was sickened at the torn body mass below.

"Be pal!" shouted back Cloud. "When you get back, schedule me a boat that leaves in ten minutes for Costa del Sol!"

"Sure thing!" Tso talked to one of the other men, and he quickly raced away. "Why there?"

"Remember that the document you had said her hometown was del Sol!?"

"Oh yeah!" Then it suddenly hit Cloud. _Wait a minute_, he thought. _Who is Lion866?_

Tso had done a good job; Cloud had gotten a private vessel bound for Costa del Sol, nonstop for 72 hours. _Three days_, he thought. _All too long while I know she's alive_. He sat down on the bed as a sailor came in, and saluted him. Boy, it was a good thing he was good friends with Tso.

"Sir!" said the sailor in a rough voice. "The boat will be departing in 0005 hours, sir!" Cloud nodded, and the sailor left. _He could just say five minutes_.

He walked to a window, and looked out over the vast ocean. It was mind boggling to wonder about how wide the oceans are, or how deep the universe was, or how things were possible...

..._Or how dead people come alive._

He shook his head. He hadn't stopped thinking about her since the second he understood she was breathing again.

He went up to the deck, and leaned on a rail.

"Hey, stranger," said a voice behind him. He turned to Tifa, who was standing just a few feet from him.

"Tifa...it's been a while."  
"A month. We haven't talked in a _month_, Cloud."

"Tifa...it's been a while," he repeated. She smiled, then stood beside him as they both looked out over the endless sea. "How did you find me in five minutes?"

"I was already here, and when I heard a sailor with a radio say 'Arrange a vessel for Cloud Strife', I thought it might be the same Cloud." She paused. "So, why are you going on a private vessel?"

He suddenly stopped short. What could he tell her? It would make her angry to know he was pursuing something 'of his imagination', as she called it. "Just...taking a cruise."

"Usually people don't take cruises at Juno. It's a cargo port."

"I do." She smiled again.

"Always trying to be different, eh?" She stepped away. "Well, I figure I'll let you go on another hunt for whatever." She took a few more steps, then, "...At least tell me where you're going."

"Costa del Sol," said Cloud. She nodded, then waved goodbye.

He looked at a setting sun, a beautiful one. _Going from leaping over a river to looking at an amazing sunset can tire someone_, thought Cloud. Not wanting to talk to anyone or anything, he went back down to his cabin, and locked the door.

There would be days ahead of him before he reached his destination.

****

CONTINUED IN CHAPTER III


	3. Final Fantasy VII: Disordered Illusion C...

****

FINAL FANTASY VII: DISORDERED ILLUSION

Written by Surrect Tiger

CHAPTER II

"...Right. Now, give me your coordinates and status report," said one of the sailors through a radio. The sailor was really ticked off that he had to run this inspection assignment, but due to something that had happened almost two months ago...something about a band of about seven breaking into a cargo ship...he had to do this.

This time it was some private, small ship assigned to one Cloud Strife, as he had been told. _Tourists_, he thought. He lived at Costa del Sol, but was not native to that port town. When he decided to become a sailor, which seemed like an exciting job (when he was just a kid), until he finally got into it. He realized it was more hard work, and there was almost no fun at all in it.

"_...Coordinates are: North, .7110, West, .88. Cruising at high average speed, 5.925 over 206.1..._" The status report went on for about five minutes. He actually hardly understood any of it, but he knew that all he had to do was write everything down on a pad, and the officer above him would take care of everything.

"_...Temperature maintenance level...90.95 degrees f-_" Many seconds passed by. The sailor said into his radio, "Hello, hello?" He knocked on it, to make sure it hadn't shorted out. "Hello? Test, test, hello? Anyone there?" He waited for a few more seconds, then got up. "Hey, Jack. We ne-"

"_fffffzzzzz...._" The radio crackled back to life. He grabbed it quickly, and punched in the send button. "Hello!? Is anyone there!?"

"_......zzzzztttssssss.....ind his......ffffffcrcrcrcr.....sssssssssout there! Hurrsssssssssssssss....lp! sslp sssss! ssssseeeelp!!!_"

"Vessel Uriah, come again!?" shouted the sailor, heart beating fast. "Vessel Uriah!"

"_.....ssssssspppppppnow!!! sssss....ccccend them here! We ne-sssssssssssssssssss_"

"Vessel Uriah!" He turned to several listeners. "Well, don't just stand there! Get on that ship and find out what's going on!" All quickly left the cabin. He continued to listen to the waves breaking through on the speaker.

"_tttttttssssspspspspsssss........un! Run!-_" Then suddenly the sound got quite. It sounded like he could hear whispers. He turned the volume up very loud before he heard anything that made sense. "_....'is he?'_

'I-I don't knsssss....e anywhere!!!'

'This iszszzz your last chzzzzssscrcrcr....'"

Then the sailor heard a scream, and a loud splash. He vaguely could have guess what had happened, and it put a sour taste in his mouth that shot from his throat to the tip of his tongue. _Someone had just died_.

Then more began to come through.

"_fiiiiiiiieeeew......'ello? Hellozzzzzzzzz? Thishhhhhzzz is Vessel Urizzzzzhhh, pleshhhhzzzzzzz resshhhhhd.'_"

"Hello, hello, Vessel Uriah?" asked the sailor. He feared the signal breaking up again.

"_zzzzzeeewwwwwwhhhhh.....'Uriah here. I've fixed the signal, shouldsh be clearer now.'_"

"Yeah, I read you. What happened?"

"_'...Oh, man...ohzzsh, man....there's...there's bodies all over the place. Soshshzzzng came through here. Lookshz like...gashes. Gashes from some blade.'_"

"Who was it...Cloud Strife?...is he okay?"

"_'Dunno. Leshzze go look.'_"

"Roger. I'm calling backup." The sailor turned the dial on his radio until he got a clear channel. "Base Sun, this is Vessel Glider, please respond." Almost a minute passed by before he patiently tried again. "Base Sun, this is Vessel Glider, please respond." Half a minute passed before he grew really impatient. He turned off the radio, then back on. "Vessel Glider to Base Sun, respond please." Nothing. "Is anyone there!?" he asked loudly. He checked to make sure all cables and wires were connected properly before unsuccessfully trying a last time.

Then he noticed the others hadn't gotten back yet. He turned the radio back to Vessel Uriah's channel, and pressed the send button. "Vessel Uriah, come in." No response. There was only a static hiss. He tried several more times, then tried Base Sun's channelone last time. "Base Sun, respond!!!" he shouted. Then everything went dead. No static. No hiss. The radio was completely off.

Then the lights began to flicker before shutting off with a loud click and a slowing hum. He looked around in darkness, then reached for a flashlight. He knocked several things off of a shelf before knocking off the flashlight, too. He reached down to pick it up, and as he grabbed it, he heard something that made his body go cold with fear.

First, the engines began to whine. Then there was a very brief shake, and a loud groan. After that, utter silence. He cut on the flashlight. _Maybe I'd be better off on the other boat..._ After all, the others were there.

He exited the cabin, then walked to the edge of his boat, where they had pulled alongside the Vessel Uriah. His light shined quite far ahead of him. He hopped the side, and landed on Uriah.

He began heading to the cabin. He climbed up a three foot tall ladder, and walked into the cabin door. His feet unsettled a dark red liquid on the floor. Pointing his flashlight at it, he found a hand resting against his shoe, the end completely torn from some unknown body. He jumped away in fright, his heart beating fast. He drove the light upwards through the cabin. His mates were all lying on the floor, across tables, slumped over each other... The total of people amounted to sixteen, but in many more parts than that...

He gulped, and put a hand to his chest. His heart was beating so hard it had to have some pressure on it, or else he thought he'd die from high blood pressure. He thought to himself, _Maybe I should get the power on..._ Then he remembered the power was downstairs, in the lower parts of the ship.

He had no choice.

He left the cabin, and walked to a ladder nearby that went down into the interior of the ship. He shone his flashlight ahead, pointing it through the dimly lit hallway. He slowly edged through the hall, moving past doors and openings in a time that seemed like days. Then he found another ladder, and went down it carefully.

Now, the bottom wasn't even _close_ to half as nice as the upstairs part of Uriah. There were rusted walls that stretched before him into pitch blackness. Black upon black. He felt his saliva grow very thick. He could feel sweat everywhere, although he was freezing cold.

_This is crazy_, he thought. _There's an escape boat up top_.

He turned, and screamed.

There was a man with spiky yellow hair before him. He was much taller, and better built. He held a sword in both hands, with the blade pressed against the sailor's nose.

"Who are you!?" asked the spiky haired man.

"M-m-my n-name's Daryl-l," he stuttered. Although this man _did_ have a sword, it had no apparent blood on it. That is, unless he had washed it.

"What's going on?"

"Y-you tell me!" he said, his heart about to break through his ribcage. The man pulled his sword away from Daryl's face.

"Who did all this?" What? Was this guy for real?

"...Wh-what, didn't you?"

"What? No!" answered the man. "I was supposed to be going to Costa del Sol. I fell asleep about evening...what time is it?"

"Two thirty A.M.," answered Daryl.

"Anyway, I woke up, and found several people dead."

"How come you aren't? And what's your name?" asked the sailor.

"I locked my door last night. Maybe that's why. Name's Cloud Strife."

"You're the one who's supposed to have a private vessel to Costa del Sol., right?"

"Right," answered Cloud. "Now, why weren't _you_ kiled?"

"I was in the cabin, on the radio. I-" Then the man, to Cloud's surprise, was lifted in the air by about a foot. Both looked down, and, through the sailor's chest, was the blade of a thin, long sword. Cloud leapt back before the sailor fell to the ground. His flashlight lay on the floor, pointing to a wall left of Cloud. All he could see was a figure's feet.

"Who are you!?" shouted Cloud. He pointed his sword out ahead of him. For some time the person didn't answer.

"I thought you knew me." _The voice_. Cloud's heart almost stopped beating at the sound of the voice. It only took one word to notice it.

"_Sephiroth_," said Cloud. All of a sudden, all his insides felt very weak. Yes, he knew he and his friends had beaten Sephiroth, but Cloud hadn't trained since then, and besides, it was him and six others.

"Hello Cloud. You seem...surprised."

"_How can you be alive!?_"

"The question really shoud be, 'how can I not be dead?'," answered the man. Then the flashlight went out. "I know you're unprepared, Cloud. And for the favor of giving me Aeris, I'll give you ten seconds."

Despite that he knew that, somehow, she was alive, those words burned inside him unlike any other. Rage pulsed to his fingertips and tightened his throat. He reared back, and thrust, with his sword, all the might he had. Somehow, without a sound or impact, his weapon was pulled away, as if hands had reached out and pulled on it.

"Now now, Cloud, you still have seven seconds to go. I suggest you'd make better use of it."

Cloud turned, and ran. He heard the voice begin to count down behind him. The further he got away, the more it echoed. He couldn't see, and put a hand out before him. He ran through a rusted door, and felt along the walls. He could see absolutely nothing.

"...Four, three, two, one. Ready or not, here I come!" said Sephiroth, mockingly in a child's voice, just to scare Cloud. Somehow, it did. He felt faster and faster until he falt another corner. He began to walk quickly down a hallway (if that's what it was).

All of a sudden, ahead of him, "You're not a very good hider, Cloud. I've found you already." He turned and ran back. "You may run, but you'll never escape me."

He came back into the room. He felt along a desk, and found a switch. He pulled on it. Immediately, his feet grew cold. He felt water rising into the soles of his shoes. "Wrong switch," said his hunter. He heard the voice to his right, very, very near. He tried to push the switch back where it was, but it was unmovable.

He felt further along the desk until he came to a wall. He followed the wall to another doorway. He ran down the hall, water splashing at his ankles. It was icy, so cold it made his feet numb. The smell of salt began to invade the air. Cloud opened a door, and ran inside, quickly shutting the door behind him. He felt along a wall, then came to a corner. He followed the next to another corner, then the last back to the door.

He was trapped, and he heard the agressor's feet splashing very closely towards the door. He ran back to the opposite wall, and felt around for a switch, or a button, or anything.

Then he felt a ventilation cover. He quickly pulled it off, and climbed inside. Laying between a position on hands and knees and flat on his stomach, the water rose just up above Cloud's mouth. He could currently only breathe through his nose. Salt stung his senses, and took over every part of his head. He quickly crawled deeper into the shaft. The water was freezing, chilling him to the opint that it was the only thing he could think about. He was shaking, and was very short of breath.

He continued to crawl, however, on and on. The shaft seemed endless. He made a turn, and by then, he turned over on his back, and put his mouth and nose through the top of the water, and took one last deep breath. Then, flipping back over, he crawled with one breath. The icy water was between his nose and eyes. 

After crawling for what seemed like a mile, through endless twists and turns, he grew very lightheaded. Everything around him began to not make sense. The water was growing warmer, it seemed, and it didn't hurt to take in the water.

_That's it_, his mind seemed to think for him. _Just breathe it all in...it is possible to breathe water...you're okay..._

_...**nnNO!**_ Sudden anger burst through the submissive thoughts. Everything became clear again. The water was cold, and he was choking on water. **_I won't die here! I'm this close to Aeris, and nothing will stop me!_**

He crawled yet more, through the endlessly tormenting conditions.

Finally, he burst through another ventilation cover. He swam up, and found himself at stomach level in the water, which now didn't seem very cold. He took the deepest breaths he ever had. His chest felt like it would explode. Such pain made him grimace and grab his chest. As everything returned to normal, he found his veins pulsing hard.

He felt his way along another wall, and opened a door. Then he stumbled over stairs. He quickly and joyously began to run up.

When he reached the top, he ran through a hallway he well knew, and climbed up another ladder to the ship's main deck. He saw, in the moonlight, the front end of the ship in the water. He had two chances. Either get on the other ship, or find a life boat.

The first was blown out of the water. Rather, I'll restate that. The first was sinking. He searched all edges of the first ship before trying the second. Both searches were unsuccessful.

He was going to die out here, in the ocean, either by the freezing water, or by the hand of Sephiroth.

****

CONTINUED IN CHAPTER IV


End file.
